CAN WE CREA TE BETTER HOUSING CHOICES AND THRIVING COMMUNITIES IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY? October 2, 2019 Democracy for Connecticut/CCAG Erin Boggs, Esq. and Taniqua Huguley, MA
OPEN COMMUNITIES ALLIANCE Embracing Diversity to Strengthen Connecticut
Open Communities Alliance is a Connecticut-based civil rights non-profit working with an urban-suburban interracial coalition to advocate for access to opportunity, particularly through promoting balanced affordable housing development, including in thriving communities. 2
CT IS ONE OF THE MOST SEGREGATED STATES IN THE NATION Shaped by multiple factors: -
Zoning
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Subsidized housing locations
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Limits on housing authority jurisdiction
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Disinvestment
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History of intentional segregating policies 3
IMPACT ON OPPORTUNITY
Education Opportunity Score
Economic Opportunity Score
Housing/Neig hborhood Score
Final Opportunity Score (Map)
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WHERE DO WE LIVE? OPPORTUNITY BY RACE AND ETHNICITY IN CT
% of People by Race & Ethnicity Living in Lower Opportunity Areas Blacks: Latinos: Whites: Asians:
73% 73% 26% 36%
OPPORTUNITY DETAIL AND RACE
Very Low
Low
Moderate
High
Very High
White
9%
17%
22%
23%
29%
Black
52%
21%
13%
9%
5%
Asian
14%
2% of the land area of the 21% 19% 20% state.
Hispanic
50%
22%
12%
9%
25% 7%
BRIDGEPORT
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CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
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THE ROLE OF ZONING Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. In 1926 the U.S. Supreme Court endorsed local zoning power to design zoning schemes that designated zones for certain types of buildings and dictated restrictions on lot and building sizes. The court upheld a municipality’s right to use zoning to block multifamily development. 12
ZONING AND RACE
Source: Hall, Eliza, Divide and Sprawl, Decline and Fall: A Comparative Critique of Euclidian Zoning, pg. 923, University of Pittsburg Law Review (2007). Available at http://lawreview.law.pitt.edu/issues/68/68.4/Hall.pdf.
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CHOICES ARE LIMITED BY THE LOCATION OF PHYSICAL UNITS OF SUBSIDIZED HOUSING
The Preservation List is the most comprehensive list of subsidized housing supported with federal and state funding that OCA is aware of. Unfortunately, even thought it includes over 83,000 units of housing, it is incomplete and, to the best of our knowledge, not regularly updated.
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PRESERVATION LIST BY OPPORTUNITY Higher opportunity areas make up 58% of the land area of the state.
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MALLOY ADMINISTRATION HOUSING INVESTMENTS 2011-2018 Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) & Competitive Housing Assistance for Multifamily (CHAMP) Units by Opportunity Area 2011-2018 60%
51% 50%
40%
30% 25% 20%
10%
8%
10%
5% 0%
Very High
High
Moderate
Low
Very Low
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TENANT-BASED SUBSIDIES Rental Assistance Program
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STATE RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
93% of state RAP program outside of higher opportunity areas. 86% of people using the federal government’s Section 8 live outside of higher opportunity areas.
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IS CHOICE A FACTOR? WHAT DO FAMILIES WANT? Survey of 300 tenant based voucher holders revealed:
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FAMILIES WANTED TO MOVE BECAUSE…
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FAMILIES WHO WANTED TO COULDN’T MOVE BECAUSE…
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RESULTS REGIONWIDE
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POVERTY CONCENTRATION Town
Opportunity Level
Poverty Rate
% Subsidized Units
Affordable Housing Appeals Act % (2018 - rounded)
Great Schools Rating (high school)
Bridgeport
Very Low
21%
31%
20%
1-2
Easton
Very High
4%
0%
.59%
9 (regional)
Fairfield
Very High
5%
2%
2%
9
Norwalk
Moderate
9%
12%
13%
5
Shelton
High
5%
2%
3%
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Stratford
Moderate
8%
3%
6%
4-5
Trumbull
Very High
2%
2%
5%
9
Westport
Very High
4%
1%
3%
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LONG TERM ANALYSIS OF MOBILITY: CHETTY ET AL. Outcomes for children who moved before age 13: Greater chance of going to college, and a higher quality college 30% higher income Girls were 26% less likely to become single parents
We estimate that [a move] out of public housing to a low-poverty area when young (at age 8 on average) … will increase the child’s total lifetime earnings by about $302,000.
Second Chetty et al. study showed that the longer a child can be in a lower poverty area the greater the positive outcomes. 24
DOES THIS MEAN EVERYONE MUST MOVE? NO! It means we must work to make every neighborhood an area of opportunity and every school high performing.
BUT… Some low income families want to stay to revitalize struggling communities - and they can do that currently – but must be provided strategically targeted resources. Other low income families want to move to higher-resourced communities and they currently cannot.
ALSO… In poverty-concentrated areas, voluntary decreased poverty concentration = better neighborhood and educational outcomes.
The goal is to ensure low income families have choices. 25
TWO WAY STREET SOLUTION: (1) ENSURE CHOICES IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING LOCATION AND (2) INVEST IN STRUGGLING COMMUNITIES 26
OPPORTUNITY AGENDA - PATHWAYS F a i r S h a r e H o u s i n g P l a n : Ask every town in CT to host its appropriate and sustainable portion of the regional need for affordable housing. [LONG TERM – happening in NJ & CA (less successfully)] Give extra points on competitive state applications to towns meeting their fair share obligations. Restructure the Plan of Conservation and Development procedure to reward towns meeting their fair share obligations with access to state funding across a range of programs.
S t a t e Z o n i n g O v e r s i g h t (HB 6749 in 2018): Reorganize and clarify CGS Sec. 8-2, the Zoning Enabling Act (currently “Joyceian”) and Creates an advisory group to assist the Commissioner of DOH in developing incentives for compliance. 27
OPPORTUNITY AGENDA - PATHWAYS V o u c h e r C h o i c e : Put “choice” into Housing Choice Vouchers and similar tenant-based & project-based housing subsidies: Hou sing auth orities to post the value of vouchers online. Re-tool and expand to all h ousing au th orities the state’s mobility counseling program . [LONG TERM] Adopt new federally-developed voucher values called Small A rea Fair Market Rents which better reflect rents in local markets, especially higher opportunity a reas. Increase the supp ly of state fu nded tenant-based v ouch ers, with a focus on vou chers for fam ilies with children that also help address oth er issues like health a nd education. E.g. O pen Choice Vouchers E.g. Healthy Housing Vou chers
Use project-based voucher in higher opportunity areas.
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OPPORTUNITY AGENDA - PATHWAYS Focus Existing State Resources to Promote Opportunity Pathways Set aside a significant portion of state and fed eral housing dev elopm ent resources for new fa milies construction in higher opportunity areas. Allocate a portion of sewer funds to a pool ava ilable to affordable housing developers creating housing in higher opportunity areas. For towns w ith little affordable housing and a meanin gful amount of op en space, req uire a portion of any future town funds dedica ted to protecting open sp ace to be allocated to an affordable housing trust fund.
L e v e r a g e H o u s in g A u t h o ri t y H e l p : Allow housing authorities to operate regionally in higher opportunity areas, requiring them to comply with each town’s zoning provisions, but also permit them to: Build m ixed income housing Place project-ba sed subsid ies, an d Promote regional use of tenan t-based v ouchers
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OPPORTUNITY AGENDA – EQUITABLE REVITALIZATION In fra stru ctu re inv e stm e nts – st re e tsca p e s, p la y g rou nd s, p u b l ic a re a s. S u p p ort of sm a l l b u sine sse s. H ou si ng reha b il it a ti on i nv e st m en ts tha t: Include a financing tool for generating true mixed income housing (80-90% of units NOT deed restricted). (Perhaps with a market rate tax credit) Get input from current residents about where they want to live. Address lead and asthma trigger issues
In te nsiv e school i nve st m ent s. Ex p a n d d ri ve n b y ge nu i ne loca l i np u t . 30
SMALL AREA FAIR MARKET RENTS Sub-market voucher values is a major cause of segregation in the HCV program. The Trump administration froze a increase in higher opportunity areas required by regulation. OCA successfully challenged this in Open Communities Alliance v. Carson. SAFMRs are now implemented in the Hartford area. Sample Monthly Rent Increases under SAFMR: • • • •
South Glastonbury: $442 Parts of Farmington: $158 Avon: $248 Mansfield Center: $352
It would be beneficial to implement SAFMRs statewide. 31
Maps provided courtesy of Professor Stefanie Deluca of Johns Hopkins University.
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8 years later
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Erin Boggs, Esq. Executive Director Open Communities Alliance 75 Charter Oak Avenue Suite 1-210 Hartford, CT 06106 Tel. 860.610-6040 eboggs@ctoca.org Check us out and join the coalition at: http://www.ctoca.org
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